Today we’d like to introduce you to Joey Marsh.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Senior year of high school I started to jam with our founding drummer, Mario Garcia, and began to write songs in a hardcore punk style. When I eventually realized I was better suited for metal we shifted styles, but I like to think we kept a bit of the punk energy and approach to writing. Eventually we found our vocalist Kyle Cooney and what would become the first of many bass players, Jacob Reynolds. Throughout 2015-2018 we would play backyard shows and work on becoming a more solid band as well as becoming more serious musicians. In 2018 we would release our first EP “Psycho Mantis” and would go through a few lineup changes eventually finding our longtime bassist Armand Morillo in 2020. This lineup would be intact until this year, 2024. We released our second EP “The Decadence of Decay” in 2021 and during this time we would really hone our sound, style, and live chops playing shows all over Southern California. in 2022 we would embark on our first tour as a band with our friends in Split Image. For two weeks we played shows in 6 different states and got a real taste of what being a touring band is like and it has become the goalpost ever since. In 2023 we released our third EP “Cerebral Labyrinths.” A release I consider to be our finest and most accomplished work yet. At this time in the band, we are going through some major changes. Our longtime original drummer has left the band, and we have parted ways with our vocalist. Despite this, Armand and I are determined to keep Psycho Mantis alive and are currently scouting for new members.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Personally, I think the biggest struggle we’ve had as a band was finding the right people to work with. Plenty of people claim to play instruments but when the time comes to deliver, they really don’t. Another challenge for me was learning how to manage peoples’ personalities, schedules, and tastes to keep everyone happy and involved. Admittedly still a challenge.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In Psycho Mantis, we have always strived to create what we feel is a unique blend of musical styles and genres. We try to emphasize brutally heavy riffs as well as a fair bit of technical ability along with a good amount of melody. We have been told it is hard to classify us as any one style, and I think that it has helped the band to find our fan base. Personally, I am the most proud of our most recent release, “Cerebral Labyrinths” (Now on all streaming services.) I think our weird approach to songwriting as well as our genre bending style has helped to set us apart from our peers.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
If people want to reach out and collaborate, they can message us on our Instagram @psycho_mantis_metal or shoot us an email at psychomantismetal666@gmail.com. We have a YouTube channel with a fair amount of content on it and we are also on all streaming services.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @psycho_mantis_metal
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2A4ygGlQXDV5MUJmX0PNtw
- Other: linktr.ee/PsychoMantis
